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Chapter 15 · The Yoga of the Supreme Person · 20 verses

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How to study this verse, in six steps
  1. 1Remember who is speaking. Kṛṣṇa is speaking. Take the verse as He directs.
  2. 2Say the verse and its words. Read the Sanskrit, then each word with its meaning.
  3. 3Read the translation as it is. Let the translation say what it says, without adding your own meaning.
  4. 4Read the purport. Hear the verse through the disciplic succession.
  5. 5Bring your own question. Ask: where does this verse meet my life, my trouble, my doubt?
  6. 6Act on it, remembering Kṛṣṇa. Carry one instruction into your work today.
Read the full guide: how to read the Bhagavad-gītā ›
Krishna’s natureChapter 15 · The Yoga of the Supreme Person

Bhagavad-gītā As It Is · Text 15.16

The Supreme Person beyond fallible and infallible

Jīva · The soul

द्वाविमौ पुरुषौ लोके क्षरश्चाक्षर एव च ।

क्षर: सर्वाणि भूतानि कूटस्थोऽक्षर उच्यते ॥ १६ ॥

dvāv imau puruṣau loke

kṣaraś cākṣara eva ca

kṣaraḥ sarvāṇi bhūtāni

kūṭa-stho ’kṣara ucyate

Translation

There are two classes of beings, the fallible and the infallible. In the material world every living entity is fallible, and in the spiritual world every living entity is called infallible.

Read Śrīla Prabhupāda's purport on Vedabase.io
1

Understand it

What this verse is saying, and where it sits in the story.

3 study points

Two Classes of Beings

  1. 1

    Living beings in the material world are fallible; those in the spiritual world are infallible.

  2. 2

    Prabhupāda explains that all living beings are eternal parts of the Supreme Lord. Oneness with Him means harmony, not loss of individuality.

  3. 3

    Material bodies change, but spiritual bodies do not. In the spiritual world, there is no birth, old age or death.

Key points from the purport

Two kinds of living entities — Now Krishna being the knower of the Vedas summarizes two classes of living entities, fallible (conditioned) in the material world and infallible (liberated) in the spiritual world

Here the Lord gives in summary the contents of ‘Vedanta Sutra’ (15.16 – 15.18)

a

Both classes of living entities are eternal separated parts and parcels

b

The fallible class

The living entities in contact with the material world are called “jiva-bhuta”

Struggling in the world with the mind and the five senses

Bodies are constantly undergoing six changes

Due to contact with matter, the living entity appears to be changing

Any living entity in contact with matter (Brahma down to small ant) is changing it’s body

c

Infallible class

They are in oneness with the Supreme Personality of Godhead

Oneness does not mean they have no individuality

It means there is no disunity

They are all agreeable to the purpose of creation

Ofcourse, in the spiritual world there is no such thing as creation – But since the Supreme Lord is the source of all emanations, that conception is explained

Thus this refutes Mayavada

In spiritual world the body does not undergo six changes like matter

All the living entities are always liberated in oneness

This oneness with Krishna of those infallible souls in the spiritual world is herein called kuta-sthah, a oneness in desire.

We are therefore required, as Krishna said in Texts 15.4 and 15.5, to be detached from the material world as Krishna is detached, and, overcoming our desire for independent enjoyment, surrender unto Him

2

Word for word

Learn the Sanskrit words of the verse.

  1. dvautwo
  2. imauthese
  3. puruṣauliving entities
  4. lokein the world
  5. kṣaraḥfallible
  6. caand
  7. akṣaraḥinfallible
  8. evacertainly
3

Key ideas in this verse

The spiritual concepts this verse connects to.

Key ideas: bhagavān, vibhūti.

4

Live it

Take one thing from this verse into your day.

Ask yourself

What does BG 15.16 establish in Śrīla Prabhupāda's translation and purport, and how does it connect to krishna’s nature?

Practice

Notice something excellent and see it as His opulence.

5

The story behind it

Mahābhārata episodes and stories from the purports that shed light on this verse.

All stories for chapter 15 ›
6

Related verses

Keep going: verses that carry this teaching further.

Live this todayDetachment Through Surrender to KṛṣṇaA practice from BG 15.3-4, close to this verse

Study notes are editorial summaries, not the translation. Confirm them in the original text and purport.